Thank Nation! Raps Pick 9th - Draft on June 23rd 8pm (Part 6)

[BillyGM]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKW52-2DqMc[/youtube]
Charles Barkley, Draymond Green breed
My favourite 27th Candidate

[CoachJReturns]

If we take Sabonis we are essentially filling a need. Unless some believe he has a higher ceiling than a prime Scola with a 3 point shot. Which is a very good player by the way, just not enough to move the needle.

I'm just spitballing here, but what this team needs is: Kevin Garnett. A clone of him. Someone with absurd physical tools for a PF and a very intense mentality to win and succeed. Anything less will not raise the ceiling of this team.

The guy who comes closest to being such a player, in my eyes, is Thon Maker. Sounds very mature for his age and I don't think there is doubt about his age. His voice and face are that of a teenager still.
He's rail thin and an elite athlete like Garnett was. He can handle the ball like KG. He doesn't have his post game, but we have an ELITE post scorer already whether the coaching staff chooses to utilize him or not. Maker looks like the better perimeter shooter at the same age as KG.

The flip side is he could bust. He could be pretty meh, or worse. But we have 2 PICKS THIS YEAR! We can take someone safe at 27 this year. Heck we can take 1 or 2 more safe guys in the 20s next year as well. And the year after that.

Our last great pick was maybe Demar. I'd argue the last truly GREAT pick was Vince and T Mac before him. This team is already solid. It's deep. It has a lot of great role players and even has 2 all-stars. The one thing it lacks is a hall-of-fame level talent to take it any further than it's come thus far. Unless someone falls, I think Thon has more tools to get there than anyone available to us. The interviews, the measurements(including the record max vertical numbers for a big) and the handles are too hard to ignore!

Forgive me for sounding dramatic or naïve, but this is a pivotal moment in the history of this franchise. To not take advantage of it would be horrific from a sports fan perspective.

I agree we need a KG type of player. However, I think that player is Skal in this year's draft. Skal already has the jump shot down, but he just doesn't have the mental toughness. I think with the right environment, culture, and teammates, he can develop that with no problem since we now have all those things to help accommodate him.

I think Masai should double up on his boom bust odds by drafting Skal @ #9 and Maker @ #27 and hope one of them pans out to be the KG-prototype that this team needs. And if we get 2 busts, I won't be mad but if we get 2 great players out of it, its all gravy.

That would truly be swinging for a grand slam while down 1 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. It's not necessary, but if you hit the grand slam everyone remembers your name as opposed to hitting the game winning single.

There truly is a through the roof chance that both Skal and Thon are busts. I'd say the chances of both of them panning out is less than 1%. But ok the outside chance that they both work out well and you potentially have a chance to run a lineup out there with three 7 footers you might have to bite the bullet. It's not really playing Russian roulette when you're as good a GM as Masai as he'd likely recover but fans will never forget.

I'd bring them both in on the same day against guys like Poeltl and Sabonis to see if there's anything there. If I like what I see I might take the risk.

My biggest issue though is that Thon has been dodging workouts against other guys which tells a lot about his concern that he'll flop. Skal not so much since he's worked out against others and his only real issues are fouling too much and weight issues.

I think the dodging workouts is not surprising at all. Guys like Sabonis would just put their body on him and he's too thin to do much about it right now. Maker needs a couple years to get to a better playing weight which would likely be somewhere around 230. Just enough to get his legs to a useful level of strength.
Also, when a guy blows people away in athletic testing and nails interviews every time, he has a much higher chance of ruining his position than improving it.

[rapsrealm]

From reading the article, it seems all speculation. They have figured out that Sabonis isn't working out with anyone beyond the top 12 and they are basically saying that both Toronto and Orlando need a PF so its probably on of them who have given them a promise.